Month: October 2014

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 12; Ezekiel 13; John 4:31-54

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV)

As Christians, faith, hope, and love are central to our continuing walk with Christ. But what is it that separates love out of this group? Is it not that love was the great motivator that secured our salvation? The love of God was the difference between being under the law and being under everlasting grace. Before Jesus’ sacrifice of love on the cross, it would be impossible for us to be in God’s presence, but now we can “come boldly to the throne of grace,” (Heb. 4:16). —C. J. Beach

O love of God most full,
O love of God most free,
Come, warm my heart, come fill my soul,
Come, lead me unto Thee! —O. Clute

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 10-11; Ezekiel 12; John 4:1-30

There we saw the giants…and we were like grasshoppers.  Numbers 13:33

The promised land which God had prepared for His people stretched out before them. All they had to do was possess what God had promised to them. But between them and God’s blessing were giants of great size and strength. These giants robbed God’s people of what was rightly theirs. In like manner today, God has promised His children all spiritual blessings, but too often giants like fear and discouragement and guilt rob us of God’s best. With God’s help all of our Goliaths can be defeated.  —Charlie Tempest

O victory in Jesus, my Saviour forever,
He sought me and bought me,
With His redeeming blood. —E. Bartlett

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 8-9; Ezekiel 11; John 3:22-36

Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child.  And she answered, It is well.  2 Kings 4:26

It has often puzzled me why the Shunamite woman answered that it was well with her child—when he had died. A careful examination of the dear lady’s faith reveals that she believed that Elijah’s God would somehow solve the problem. Sometimes the Lord heals by taking away a loved one. May we have the grace and faith to understand, whatever the divine response. “He doeth all things well.”  —Brian Russell

When darkness seems to veil His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace,
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
—E Mote

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 6; Ezekiel 8-9; John 2:1-22

Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, And you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen.  Isaiah 1:29 (NASB)

This verse offers a sobering warning for us all. Oak trees take considerable time to mature. Gardens take considerable effort to maintain. As we examine our own lives, we can ask, what things do we use our time on? What things do we expend our effort on? Let us live in such a way that when we stand before the Lord, we will not be ashamed of our “oaks” nor embarrassed at our “gardens”—the things in which we have chosen to invest our time and effort.  —L. Shatford

Give of your best to the Master; give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service, consecrate every part.
—H. B. Grose

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 4:24 to 5:26; Ezekiel 7; John 1:19-51

And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree.  Acts 13:29

It was a moving experience in the cathedral in Antwerp to view the painting by Rubens entitled “The Descent from the Cross”. The artist seeks to portray how Christ’s loved ones might have managed to take Him down. It is evident loving hands are engaged in this arduous task. What a contrast to the wicked hands that had nailed Him there. As He suffered, the crowd had tempted Him to come down. He declined to do so, but rather suffered the punishment due to us for our sin.  —Brian Powlesland

Was it the nails, O Saviour, that bound Thee to the tree?
Nay, t’was Thine everlasting love, Thy love for me, for me.
—K. Kelly

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 3 to 4:23; Ezekiel 5-6; John 1:1-18

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.  Revelation 1:19

Qualified, holy men of God were moved by the Spirit to write the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:21). The goal of the Bible is to establish fellowship between us and with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3). John the closest disciple to the Lord bears record to the truth of Christ’s flawless life and sin atoning death, so that we might believe in Him (John 19:35). These “eyewitnesses of His majesty” eliminate any “cunningly devised fables” (2 Pet. 1:16). How good to know that our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:5). —Milton Haack

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted, ’mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal, and they glow with a light sublime.
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, for the Bible stands.
—Haldor Lillenas

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 2; Ezekiel 3:16 to 4:17; 2 Timothy 4

And you, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4

In too many cases fathers have abdicated their responsibility of being the leader or head of the home. Business consumes too many, to the point where fathers are not home for supper, nor able to attend their children’s events. Do they see that your faith is real? Have they ever walked in and found you reading the Word or on your knees praying? Do you take time to have a “family altar” at the supper hour? A recent article as to why many youth leave the church cited that they fail to see “the commitment of (their) parents.” They don’t see authentic faith! Is your faith real and demonstrable? —Jim Comte

O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master,
Where pray’r comes first in peace or in disaster. —B. B. Hart

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 1; Ezekiel 2 to 3:15; 2 Timothy 3

Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.  2 Chronicles 9:6

The queen of Sheba confessed before Solomon that she had doubted the witness of his greatness, but when she saw she believed and confessed the half had not been told. What will we say when we see the King of kings and His kingdom? How we yearn for the day when we enter into His presence. “Whom having not seen we love; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8).  —D. Pickup

The half cannot be fancied this side the golden shore;
O there He’ll be still sweeter than He ever was before. —W. C. Martin

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Kings 25; Ezekiel 1; 2 Timothy 2

They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.  John 8:4

Some people think they are too sinful, too far gone to ever be forgiven of God. Our Lord ministered to this woman who had been found in the act of adultery. One of the last people He comforted was a condemned thief. God loves you no matter what sin you have committed. He wants you to turn to Him. The thief asked the Lord Jesus to remember him and Jesus heard his cry and told him that he would be with Him in paradise. Turn to the Lord Jesus and accept the salvation He lovingly offers.  —M. Robins

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me;
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God I come! I come. —Charlotte Elliot